1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a jumper assembly used in conjunction with two circuit breakers, more specifically to a jumper assembly having a two or more electrical busses which lie in the same plane.
2. Background Information
A jumper assembly is a device for dividing a current from a power line so that the current may be directed to two or more circuit breakers. The jumper assembly includes a non-conductive housing and two conductive buses. The current is divided by coupling the power line to a single input point, typically a collar assembly, on a bus having two or more output terminals. The output terminals are then coupled to two different circuits, each of which has its own circuit breaker. The circuit breakers on the different circuits typically have different ratings. A typical jumper assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,384.
As shown in FIG. 1, which is the same as FIG. 9 in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,384 patent, the prior art jumper included a first bus bar, a second bus bar and a non-conductive housing. Each bus bar had a collar that is structured to be coupled to a power line. Each bus bar has multiple output terminals. The first bus bar is disposed on the upper side of a horizontal wall within the housing. The second bus bar is located on the lower side of the horizontal wall. Thus, the bus bars are on different planes. Because of the stacked relationship of the buses, the housing assembly must have a minimum height to safely house the buses. This minimum height could be reduced if the buses were not in a stacked relation.
There is, therefore, a need for a jumper assembly wherein the busses are co-planar.
This need, and others, is satisfied by the disclosed invention that provides a jumper assembly having a housing assembly and two or more bus assemblies. The housing assembly has a planar member, a plurality of lower side walls and plurality of upper side walls. The housing assembly planar member has an upper side and a lower side. The lower side walls forming a plurality of bus assembly raceways. The two or more bus assemblies each have a planar member and two terminal ends. The bus assembly planar members are disposed in the lower raceways adjacent to and parallel to the housing assembly planar member lower side. Thus, the bus assemblies are in a single plane.